Travel Guide PA: La Verona (Kennett Square)

We had New Year’s Eve dinner at La Verona. Our culinary exploits had taken us everywhere except for Italian food, so it was about time. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful. We sat in the bar area. Gradually, the place started to fill up as it got later and later, and people wanted to grab dinner before the Mushroom Drop. By the end of the night, they were packed. La Verona had come to me with so many recommendations, but in the end, I found it to be your typical above-average Italian fare. Nothing spectacular.

What was excellent were the martinis I had. I always get it with gin, straight, and extra olives. The martini glass itself was on the larger side, and it came with six jumbo olives. They did not mess around with this one, and the price was $6.50. This would have been double the price in New Jersey. I was impressed. Our appetizer was the bruschetta—four tiny pieces of bread that were so thin they fell apart as I lifted them off the place, topped with a decent amount of tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.

Will’s Margarita pizza was more like a flatbread and he loved it. I took a few bites and thought it was pretty good myself. I had the chicken marsala, which again, I thought was good just not standout in any way. The portion was three medium-sized pieces of chicken, over a bed of mashed potatoes (which were great), and covered in the marsala sauce and what I assume were locally sourced mushrooms. Yes, after two trips to Kennett Square totaling over five days at this point, I finally ate mushrooms. (I don’t have a picture of the marsala. It came out blurry for some reason, and I cannot post it.)

They will get a 4 out of 5 stars from me. I feel like that is just a placeholder and I would need another visit. To a man, every local we talked to in both trips raved about this restaurant, as did my parents who were there a month before us. It was good, I just don’t see what all the fuss is about right now. Maybe next time.

La Verona is located at 114 East State Street in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.